Invader MAZ
by Birdhouse in your Soul
Summary: She was an elite invader whose only purpose was to destroy... Too bad her new mismatched family is getting in the way of that. - This is another VERY old story, don't count on it being any good. -
1. Chapter 1

Maz walked over to the table where her friend Chev was sitting, grumbling about the immature and overly excited younger irkens running around the cafeteria. Big deal, she told herself, it's not like you're all becoming the tallest or anything like that.

Chev always walked around on her PAK legs, but no one was sure why-- perhaps to add just a little more to her already noteworthy height. She loved teasing the other irken soldiers just to see them get mad about something no one had control over. She looked up at Maz as she sulked to the table.  
"Something the matter?"  
Maz shook her head. "Red's gonna become an Invader time, and I'm not, I just know it..."  
Chev shrugged. "Feh, who cares about that anyway. It's boring. I'd much rather stay here." She bit the head off one of her giant gummy meekrobs.  
Maz sat down, frustrated with her friend's indifference. "Being in a squad with Red would be....hmm, well, romantic, I think."  
Chev couldn't keep from laughing. "You and your fantasies! Sometimes it seems like Red's the only thing you think about."  
"Shut up! I'm not THAT obsessed," Maz insisted, but her attention was diverted to the announcer at the podium.  
He fumbled with a huge stack of papers, looking out nervously into the crowd of anxious faces. "Ah...um... Her majesty Tallest Miyuki has decided the new Invaders for this year..." He took out a list and began reading.  
Maz sat on the edge of her seat the entire time, listening for her name. She ignored the cheers from those who had gotten in and had missed Chev's name, until Chev tapped her on the shoulder and said, "Hey, I'm in!"  
She had just nodded and continued to listen, until Red walked over.  
"Hey, Chev," He said, "I heard you got in. That's great."  
Oh...god... Maz thought, trying to keep focused on the announcer.  
"Uhh...I know I've seen you before somewhere..." Red thought for a minute. "Maz, right?"  
HE REMEMBERED MY NAME!!!  
"Uh...y-yeah, that's m-me," Maz stammered, grinning weakly.  
"Well, I hope you get in," Red said, walking back off to his circle of friends.  
Chev shook Maz after Red had left. "MAZ!! Weren't you paying attention?!?! You're in!!"  
"I'm WHAT?!" It took a minute for it to sink in. "Yes! YES!!! I'M IN!!!"  
When she was done cheering for herself, Maz noticed Zim out of the corner of her eye. He looked depressed. He must not have gotten in... She thought. Poor guy.

~+~+***+~+~

"Invader Maz," she said to herself as she walked to the Master Brain. "I like the way that sounds."  
"Don't get cocky YET," Chev warned. "You're not an Invader 'til they re-encode your PAK."  
"Yeah, yeah."

They stepped up onto the platform and the first thing Maz noticed were the rows of rather lethal-looking weapons.

"Ohhhhh, I want one of those!" She said to Chev, pointing at a huge blaster with a knifelike appendage attached to it.  
"That? It's a MechaCannon. That's a lot of weapon for a beginner," Chev said.  
"Awww. But it looks so cool," Maz whined.

The other invaders quieted down when Tallest Miyuki entered the room. She looked over the large group of invaders and then down at her list.

"We've got a good sized group this year..." She murmured to herself. "Well, let's get started. Once I call out your planet, head over to the breifing room to get your SIR. First... Invader Chev, you have planet Terra."  
"Sorry, but it looks like we're not going to be together on this one," Chev whispered. "Good luck."  
Maz frowned as she watched Chev crawl down the large staircase on her PAK legs.  
"Next... Invaders Red and Purple, you have planet Meekrob."  
Red grumbled about having to share a planet with his brother, but Purple hit him over the head and dragged him off down the stairs.  
"And... Invader Maz, you have planet Gaia."  
"WHAT?!" Maz yelled. "You mean I'm all by myself?!"  
"Of course not," Miyuki replied, shaking her head. "You'll have a SIR. And that planet is constantly embroiled in war. It'll be easy to take over."

Miserable, Maz slumped down the stairs to the breifing room to get her weapons and SIR.

"Whassa matter?" The supervisor asked her. "I've never seen anyone that unhappy to become an Invader."  
"It's nothing," Maz sighed. She looked around for Chev, but she had apparently left already. Maz got in line to get a SIR.  
"Um, do I get to pick the one I--" She started, but was interrupted.  
"NO!!!" The other supervisor yelled, getting up in her face. "They're RANDOMLY SELECTED, hear me?!?! RANDOMLY SELECTED!!!"  
"Oh shut up," The first supervisor said, rolling his eyes. "Just let her pick the one she wants."  
The second one grumbled and moved her along. Maz looked down the rows of SIR bodies, keeping in mind that this would be her life partner. She came across one that was cute, but still a little creepy looking. Its head was adorned with spikes and one of its hands was a gun. She decided to take that one.

She headed to the programming room to get a "brain" for the little robot. She walked up read the instructions, then typed in her info.

30 POINTS ARE GIVEN FOR VARIOUS TRAITS. USE THEM AS YOU SEE FIT. USE NO MORE THAN 10 POINTS FOR EACH TRAIT.  
SIR's GENDER: MALE  
INTELLIGENCE RATING MAX: 10 POINTS  
STRENGTH RATING MAX: 9 POINTS  
TASK PERFORMANCE: 7 POINTS  
RESEARCH CAPABILITY: 4 POINTS

Maz pressed "ENTER" and the computer spit out a small chip. She opened up her SIR's head and clicked the chip into place. The computer in its head hummed to life, its bluish-purple backlit eyes flickered on, and it stood there blinking at her for a minute.

"...Who are you?!" It demanded.  
"Hey, watch the attitude!" Maz yelled, hitting it over the head. "I'm your new master, so I ask the questions around here, not you, got it?!"  
It looked at her, confused. "YOU'RE my invader? Aren't you a bit small to be an invader?"  
"Well, I can see the first thing I'll have to do is teach you some manners," Maz growled.  
She dragged the stubborn SIR along with her and got into a Voot cruiser. She looked down at the controls.  
"Uh... hey, SIR. What kinda stuff can you do?"  
"I can do a lot of things," It snapped back at her.  
"Can you fly a Voot cruiser?"  
"Maybe," It replied with a yawn. "If I felt like it."  
"Good, 'cause I have no idea how to pilot this thing," She said with a smile, pushing it towards the steering wheel. It glared at her and started the ship.  
"Oh, what a fantasic life parnership THIS is going to be," it grumbled sarcastically.

~+~+***+~+~

About halfway through the trip, Maz thought of something.

"You know, I really should name you instead of just calling you 'SIR' or 'hey you'."  
"I'd like that," It replied. Maz couldn't tell if it was really being serious or if it was being sarcastic again.  
"Well... What kind of name do you want?"  
"A good one," it said dully. Maz frowned.  
"No, I mean, if you had to name yourself, what name would you pick?"  
"I don't care. I'm your slave. It's not my business to name myself."  
Maz sighed and thought for a while.  
"How about... Ispen?" She suggested. "I like that name. It's the name of some storybook hero from my invasion planet."  
"Fine by me," the newly named Ispen said, continuing to steer the ship.

~+~+***+~+~

A few hours later, they landed on an open rocky ledge on the planet where there were no inhabitants to watch them.  
"I'll come back later to set up my base," Maz said with a yawn. "Right now I should probably pick out my disguise."

She spent a few minutes looking through the list of disguises she could use. She stopped on one that caught her eye and looked across the bottom of the screen. It said "BLACK MAGE". She pushed the button.

When Maz looked in the mirror, she wished the disguise was what she actually looked like. Her face was completely black except for her red eyes, which had turned exprsssionless and glowing. She wore a dark indigo robe that was probably several sizes too big for her and a purple steepled hat with a black ribbon tied around it.

"Wow, you look even creepier than before," Ispen said with a laugh. Maz glared at him.

"I like this disguise," She said, proud of herself. "Now we have to pick one for you."

~+~+***+~+~

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME, KUPO?!?!" Ispen screamed after seeing himself in the mirror. "And why do I keep saying 'kupo', kupo?"  
"Aww, but you look cute!" Maz said, giggling. "People on this planet love moogles. It said so in the description."  
"I look ridiculous!" Ispen wailed. "And what the hell is this pompom on my head?!"  
Maz sighed, exasperated. "We'll pick out a new disguise later. For now, let's just find out how they act on this planet, so we can blend in more."

Maz decided to get used to not using her PAK legs, so she climbed up the ledge by herself. Ispen was up long before she was.

"Man, they've got it hard here," Maz said, panting. She looked over at the huge city in the distance. "Screw this," she said to herself, and climbed down from the top of ledge on her PAK legs, racing toward the city.

~+~+***+~+~

Maz slipped into the castle at the center of the city and ran past a few of the guards. Luckily, their backs were turned, so they didn't notice anything.  
"Maz," Ispen hissed when they were out of sight, "Are you SURE that disguise is from this planet? I don't see anyone here who looks anything like you at ALL."  
Maz frowned, not that it would have been visible. He was right. However, now was no time to be worried about that.  
Their heads snapped up when they heard they wild cheering of a crowd. A girl wearing a white hood ran past them a minute later. The guards didn't seem to notice her either.  
"Come on, Ispen," Maz said, grabbing him by the pompom, "Let's go see what's going on out there."  
When they had managed to push their way through the crowd, there appeared to be some kind of play going on. The girl they had seen a minute ago was up on the stage, along with a man with a tail and another wearing a ridiculous amount of armor. Maz turned around when she heard a guard yelling at someone. She could see the top of their heads but not whoever they were chasing. She stood on the tips of her toes, craning her neck to see what was going on. The crowd was mumbling worriedly now, and even the actors onstage appeared confused. The guards finally chased a small boy up onto the stage. He yelled something inaudible and a blast of fire shot at them. When he turned back around to get away, Maz saw his face and her eyes widened.  
"Ispen! That kid looks like me!" She yelled, unable to contain herself. "Maybe I should follow him."  
"Hey, don't ask me," Ispen grumbled. "I'm just your slave, remember?"  
Maz was about to yell at him when she heard the sound of an engine starting. The stage in front of her shifted and began rising slowly. Seeing her opportunity leaving, Maz snatched Ispen by the foot and grabbed on to the edge of the stage.

~+~+***+~+~

Maz pushed one of the fallen boards away, standing up and dusting herself off. She looked over at Ispen, who was cursing in irken tongue, and laughed.  
"Well, that was conveinent for us, huh? They were so busy crashing this ship they didn't even see us."  
Ispen nodded, then looked around. "Where'd that kid go? He was right over there when we got on."  
"Maybe he fell off..." Maz wondered. "Well, whatever. Let's go look for him."

Being careful to avoid being seen by anyone, Maz and Ispen searched through the entire ship, but didn't find him.  
"Damnit, I bet he DID fall off," Maz grumbled, sitting down in frustration.  
"Well, we should still try to find a way out of here," Ispen pointed out. "We can find someone else."  
They crawled through one of the holes that had been blasted in the hull of the ship and ran out into the forest. After climbing down a hollow log they came to a small pond, and Maz stopped dead in her tracks.  
"What's wrong?" Ispen asked.  
Maz shook her head. "Don't you know anything? Irkens are severely allergic to water, dummy."  
"Oh come on. Just run through it."  
Hesitantly, Maz did, yelping the whole time. When she got back onto dry land, Ispen shook his head disprovingly.  
They climbed up another log onto the ground above them.  
"What is THAT?!" Maz yelled upon seeing the giant plant-montser.


	2. Chapter 2

"...Maybe it's the native flora of this planet, kupo?" Ispen snickered.  
"Shut up!" Maz yelled. "It's gonna eat that kid!"  
Maz jumped up over the tree root in front of her and fired several shots from her blaster. It was enough to badly wound the monster, but it was still perfectly capable of returning the favor. It lashed out a tentacle and caught the boy around the ankle. Maz quickly fired more shots and it retreated slightly, letting go.  
"Get out of here!!" She yelled at the boy. He didn't need to be told twice.  
"Alright, you..." Maz said, cocking her blaster back to firing position. But as she prepared to shoot again, the plant withered and collapsed into a heap.  
"Is it dead?" Ispen asked cautiously.  
Maz nodded, but right as she did a spray of mist came from the body of the dead plant and knocked her off her feet. Maz looked down at herself. She was covered in the sticky liquid and there were seeds stuck to her body. She did her best to wipe it all off, and turned around to the boy. He had apparently been sprayed as well.  
"You okay?" She asked when she noticed he was crying.  
He nodded between sobs, and Maz got up to go help him up.  
"Hey, it's okay. It's dead now," Maz assured him gently. "What's your name?"  
"Vivi," He replied, swallowing his last sob.  
"You don't need to worry. Just stick with me, I'll take care of you. Okay?"  
He nodded and Ispen rolled his eyes. The last thing he wanted was a whiny kid tagging along on their mission.  
"U-um, what's that?" Vivi asked, pointing at Maz's blaster that was now strapped to her belt.  
"Uhhh... It's..." Maz panicked.  
"Is that how you use magic?"  
"Yeah! That's it," she replied, relieved.  
"I always thought that was kind of strange... That some mages needed weapons to cast magic. But I guess it's all the same magic," Vivi said thoughtfully.  
"Yep, that's the case with me!" Maz lied again, feeling bad about it. She wanted to be friends with this kid, but she had to do it by lying.  
"Hey, Vivi! Are you okay?" Maz heard a voice call. She turned around and saw a blonde teenage boy, a dark haired girl, and a middle-aged man who was wearing a ridiculous amount of armor. The girl looked dazed and the man looked incredibly worried.  
"Who the hell are you?!" Maz snarled. She felt solely responsible for Vivi, even in the short two minutes she had known him, and she didn't want anyone taking the responsibility from her. More importantly, she would lose her precedent of the planet's inhabitants.  
"I could ask you the same thing," the boy snapped. "What are you doing here? We're perfectly capable of watching out for Vivi, he's part of our group."  
"Oh really!" Maz yelled, starting to get mad. "Well, you sure are doing a fantastical job of that! If it wasn't for me, he would've gotten EATEN!!!"  
The boy didn't have a comeback.  
"Sh-she DID save me, Zidane..." Vivi said quietly.  
"Oh, fine. Did the plant spray you guys too?"  
They nodded. Zidane looked at Maz.  
"But there's not a single seed on you!"  
Maz looked at herself. "Huh?! I coulda sworn there was some on me a minute ago!"  
"It must have been that repellant you took earlier," Ispen said, winking at her.  
"...oh...um... Yeah, that must be it. I did take repellant."  
"Really?" Zidane said, raising an eyebrow. "We could really use some."  
"Well, I'd love to give you some, but I'm out," Maz said.  
"Oh, too bad. Well, you'd better take the antidote, Vivi."  
Vivi looked at the purple bottle of pungent liquid. "Do I have to?"  
"Yep. Drink up, kiddo," Zidane said, handing Vivi the bottle. Vivi choked the medicine down as best he could and handed the bottle back to Zidane.  
"Sooo..." Zidane said casually, looking Maz up and down. "Who exactly are you, anyway?"  
"Hmph. Well since you MUST know... I'm Maz. And this is my pet.....um.....m...moogle..... Ispen."  
"Are you with Master Vivi?" The heavily armored man asked.  
"Now I am," Maz replied forcefully. "Whether I go with you or if I have to take him with me."  
Zidane blinked at her and scratched his head. "I guess she's coming with us, then."

. . .

* * *

~+~+***+~+~

ONE YEAR LATER

Maz strode down one of the halls of the Massive. Ispen and Vivi followed silently, not sure what to do.

Maz had mixed feelings about conquering Gaia. She had acheived a high position of respect among her fellow Irkens for single handedly bringing the planet to its knees. Growing almost 3 feet due to her growth spurt helped get some respect too. She had even managed to use that attained respect to convince the Tallest not to completely obliterate the life on the planet. However, what had happened wasn't much better.

Maz hesitated as she reached out to open the prison door. Vivi noticed this and leaned to get a better veiw of her face.

"...Maz...You know, whatever happens, I'll stay with you," He said quietly. Ispen nodded.  
"Me too. Wait... I'm supposed to do that anyway. Oh well."  
Maz gave a weak laugh and opened the door and walked in alone. Several of the guards jumped as she entered the room, then staightened themselves. Even though she was uncertain of herself, her presence as an Irken general was overwhelming.

She began marching down the prison hall. Prisoners were arranged alphbetically according to the planet they were from, so she wouldn't have that far to walk. As she passed cells, prisoners beat against the bars of their cells and screamed curses in their native languages.

She came to G and looked at the Gaia section. She saw Zidane.

He looked at her for a brief moment, then all at once recognized her. His eyes went wide with horror, then rage, then something else that Maz couldn't recognize.

"You...! What the hell makes you think you have the right to show your face in front of me?!" He yelled at her, struggling against his restraints like a wild animal.  
Maz looked down, ashamed.  
"NO!" Zidane yelled again. "You look at me. What makes you think you can make us trust you and then turn on us like this?!"  
"I'm only doing my job," She said, and turned to leave. "I'm sorry."

~+~+***+~+~

Maz left the prison chamber feeling horrible. She felt like a traitor. But Zidane wasn't one of her own. It didn't matter. Like she had said, she was doing her job.

She was snapped out of thinking when she heard someone say something.

"Hey, Maz."

It was Red. Instinctively Maz's hand shot to her forehead in salute. "Oh, er... Hello, my Tallest."  
Red laughed a bit. "You don't have to be so formal," He said, grinning at her. "Just because I'm one of the Tallest now doesn't mean I don't still think of you as a friend. Plus, you're a pretty high-ranking general, so that makes you, like, second in command."  
"Yes, well...Hi, Red."  
"The comm-ops told me you were down here. I had something important to tell you."  
"Oh. Well, what is it?"  
"Well, we were plotting out another map of the planets to conquer, and the computer notified us that they had found another DNA match and that you have a little brother."

Maz paused, taken aback. Irken siblings were rare, there were only ever about 400 DNA matches found in Irken history. Red and Purple were twins, and Tak was Tenn's older sister. But never in a million years would Maz have guessed that she had a brother. "Are you sure?" She asked.  
"Yup. I went back manually to make sure the computer hadn't made a mistake. Y'know how that happens sometimes because there are some false DNA matches that were actually just really similar. But you definitely have a little brother," Red confirmed.  
"Wow," Maz said, still in disbeleif. "Who is it?"  
"We don't know," Red replied. "The computer wouldn't tell us. But we asked it to locate him and it spit out this map, though." He held up a small data disk. "I can send a fleet there to investigate, if you'd like."  
"No, that's alright. I'll go myself," Maz said as he handed her the disk. "Where is it?"  
"I don't know. I haven't looked at the map." Red paused, looking concerned. "You sure you'll be okay by yourself?"  
"I'll be fine," Maz assured him. "I'll just need a ship..."  
"The hangar's all yours," Red laughed. "I need to get back to planning out our galactic conquest. You know how Purple just sits there, never doing anything..."  
Maz nodded. "Yeah. Well, be seeing you."  
"Good luck!" Red called as she headed back down the hall to her living quarters.

~+~+***+~+~

"Did you see Zidane?" Vivi asked as Maz entered her room. She nodded.  
"How'd he look?"  
"I...I don't know. He looked...bad. And he looked like he wanted to bust out of that cell and rip me to peices." Maz sat down on her bed and put her head in her hands. "I wish there was something I could do to make him see that I didn't want this to happen."  
"...He just doesn't trust you. He never trusts anyone," Vivi said, trying to make her feel better. "Well, at least you saved them all from getting blown up."  
"Now all I need to do is get them out of prison..."  
"You can do it. I know you can."  
Maz nodded. "Oh, by the way, I need to leave for a while. I'm taking Ispen with me, so Sez and Mak are gonna take care of you while I'm gone."  
Upon hearing their names, Maz's homemade S.I.R. units entered the room.  
"I don't want to stay here!" Sez complained. "It's boring here! I want to come with you."  
"Yeah, me too," Mak chimed in.  
"You two aren't ready for long space trips. You've still got some...glitches that need to be worked out, y'know?"  
"Awwww," Mak whined, hanging her head. "Fine. But you'd better bring us with you next time!"

~+~+***+~+~

MEANWHILE, ON A DESOLATE PLANET...

"GIR!!! WHERE IS MY BOMB THAT WILL BLOW UP STUFF?!" Zim exclaimed rather loudly. He had been looking for his latest invention since early that morning. He had left it on the table in his lab and when he saw it was gone, he knew no one could have taken it but his idiotic S.I.R. unit.

"I EATED IT!!!" The little robot screamed as he fell down from an elevator opening in the ceiling.  
"GAH! Gir! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!?"  
"NOPE!! I'M DANCIN' LIKE A--"  
"GIR!!!" Zim screamed. "IT MEANS YOU'RE GOING TO EXPLODE!!!"  
"Oh. Well I like exploding!" Gir said happily.  
"No Gir!" Zim said desperately, grabbing him by the shoulders. "You'll blow up and be gone forever! Then I won't have anyone to do my evil bidding!!"  
"Awwww..." Gir whined, not quite sure what he was sad about.  
"Guh...This must be done..." Zim said in disgust, reaching a hand down into Gir's throat and into his stomach. His had closed around the bomb and he pulled it out, with slight difficulty because Gir was gagging and squealing and trying to hug Zim all at the same time.  
"There!" Zim said, pushing the "OFF" button and holding up the bomb triumphantly. "I AM ZIM!!! Well, anyway... Gir, you have been BAD! You have ruined yet another of my ingenious plans! At least you didn't blow up, but still!"  
Gir looked at Zim with the most pathetic, hurt expression that Zim had ever seen. He softened a bit.  
"WELL... I guess I can forgive you if you go upstairs and stay out of my way by watching TV for the rest of the day, but don't let it happen again!"  
Gir screamed with happiness and promptly ran off to do so.  
Zim sighed in frustration. "Gir has been ruining my plans almost every week now... And I'm running out of supplies. I should probably call the Tallest and ask for more."  
Just as Zim was about to push the "CALL THE TALLEST" button he had installed, he heard someone enter the room. He knew it wasn't Gir, because Gir would have made more noise. A lot more.  
"Grr... GET OUT OF MY BASE, DIB-HUMAN!" Zim screamed, whirling around in his chair. "YOU WILL NOT--eh? Who are you?"  
Zim was surprised to see that it wasn't Dib who had entered his base, but a girl. She was a good deal taller than Zim, with brown hair and dark red eyes.  
"Okay, so you're not Dib... BUT YOU'RE STILL A HUMAN!!! HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE?!"  
"Your S.I.R. unit let me in," the girl said nonchalantly.  
"Agghhh, Gir.... WAIT! How do you know what a S.I.R unit is?!"  
The image of the girl snapped out of focus and shifted, transforming into an Irken. Zim stared at her.  
"Rrrrgh... WHY WON'T YOU WOMEN STOP TRYING TO TAKE MY MISSION?! First Tak, and now YOU?! WHY WON'T YOU GO AWAY?!"  
"This isn't about your mission, Zim," Maz said calmly. "This is family business."  
"Eh? But Zim has no family," Zim said matter-of-factly, referring to himself in the third person again.  
"Well, NOW you do. The control brain just found out that you're my little brother, but it was kind of a delayed discovery. Usually it finds out as soon as the younger sibling is born, but in this case it took a while."  
"A LONG while," Zim added, grabbing a soda off his desk and taking a sip of it. "But anyway, Zim doesn't need no sibling. I'm perfectly capable of conquering this planet on my own."  
"I'm not trying to help you conquer the planet, Zim. But now you're an offcial part of this mismatched family of mine, so I feel the need to take responsibility for you. I think I'll stay here for a while to keep you in line."  
"Fine, but remember, this planet is MINE, big sister, not yours. MINE," Zim said forcefully. "Say, what's your name?"  
"It's Maz. And I get it, the planet is yours to conquer. Now if you don't mind, I need to check in with the Tallest."

MEANWHILE, ON THE MASSIVE...

"Incoming transmission from planet Earth!" The comm-op announced. The Tallest had lost track of how many times they had heard any one of the comm-ops say that.

"Just put him on screen..." Red moaned. "He won't stop calling until we answer."  
The comm-op nodded and opened the call.  
"Whaddo you want NOW, Zi-- WHAT THE!?!? Maz?!" Red exclaimed, shocked to see Maz's face on screen. Purple's mouth was stuffed full of food, but he still managed to pull off a rather stunned expression.  
Maz saluted. "Sirs, I've landed on the planet that was on the map and located my brother."  
Red chuckled nervously. "I told you, Maz, no need to be so formal." Then, panicked, he turned to the comm-op sitting next to him. "No, this has to be a mistake! Zim CAN'T be Maz's brother!"  
"Greetings, my Tallest!" Zim shouted, walking up next to Maz. His head barely reached her waist. "I hope it isn't too much trouble, but I'm running out of supplies. I would greatly appreciate it if you could send more."  
"Zim can NOT be her brother..." Red groaned to himself. But now that he saw them standing next to eachother, he could see the resemblance... and there was no doubt. Zim was Maz's brother.  
"If you don't mind, I'll be staying here to help Zim with his mission for a while," Maz said.  
"I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP!!!" Zim yelled, pointing up at her.  
"That's fine, Maz," Red sighed, exasperated. "Zim, we'll send your stuff."  
"OH THANK YOU MY TALLEST!" Zim yelled happily. "I have to go now. BYE!" Zim waved and the screen went to static.  
"Uhhh... Sir, should I send those supplies, or was that just something to make him shut up?" A green-eyed comm-op asked, looking nervous.  
"Go ahead and send them," Red mumbled. The comm-op looked stunned, but saluted and started typing in the package information.  
Purple laughed. "Your girlfriend is Zim's sister."  
Red glared at him. "She is NOT my girlfriend!"  
Purple arched one eyebrow. "Suuure. Whatever. Well, I bet you never want to see her again now that this came up."  
"Why?!" Red shot back. "It's not like she IS Zim."  
"But she's RELATED to Zim," Purple pointed out. "Isn't that just as bad?"  
"NO, it isn't, stupid," Red grumbled, throwing a burrito at Purple's head. "But, who knows. She IS an Irken Elite General after all. Maybe she can straighten him up a little."  
Purple grinned. "Oh you SO totally have a crush on her."  
"I DO NOT!!!" Red retorted as Purple hovered over to the elevator, laughing.

~+~+***+~+~

"I think I found a way to make you useful," Zim said after some thought.  
Maz looked up from the book she was reading. "Yeah, what?"  
"Well, today at Skool, Ms. Bitters told us that tomorrow we had to bring someone in that we admire and look up to. If I bring you in, it might look a little more normal than bringing one of the RoboParents. With your human disguise, of course. It's not exactly like I admire you...YET... but I do look up to you. Literally."  
"That might be a good idea. I've been studying this planet's culture a lot and it seems like younger kids often look up to older kids," Maz replied.  
"Oh, well that's good. WAIT A MINUTE!!! Studying?! This is MY mission! You know nothing of being an invader!" Zim exclaimed angrily.  
Maz looked at him reproachfully. "Actually... I've already conquered a planet. I brought them all under my control and took over the planet single-handedly. And now I'm an Irken Elite General."  
"WHAT?!" Zim blurted. "Well... Perhaps that's a good thing. Maybe you could give me some tips or something."  
Maz nodded. "Your methods could use some touching up."

MEANWHILE, ABOUT 1 MILE AWAY...

"Gaz!" Dib yelled frantically. "Tomorrow's the day we bring someone we admire to Skool! And Zim's gonna do something evil, I can feel it in my gut!"  
"Will you and your gut be quiet?!" Gaz yelled back at him from where she was sitting on the couch. "I am TRYING to concentrate on my game here!!!"  
Dib blinked at her. "You'll thank me for being so loud someday, Gaz. Like when I totally save the Earth from Zim."  
"Whatever." Gaz got up and walked off to her room, where she would be left alone and her security dolls would shoot Dib if he came within 10 feet of her.

~+~+***+~+~

"Hello, class, " Ms. Bitters droned. "Take your seats."  
"This is it..." Dib said to himself, giddy with anticipation. "But where's Zim?"  
As if on cue, the door flew open and Zim walked in, followed by a tall, brown haired girl.  
"Greetings, fellow slime children! This is my FRIEND, Maz. She's from the High Skool and I admire her with every molecule of my body!"  
Maz smiled, looking innocent, and waved at the class. Zim took his seat and Maz sat down on the floor next to him.  
"Zim, I didn't give you permission to speak," Ms. Bitters growled. "You lose restroom privledges for the rest of eternity." Zim shrugged, as this really meant nothing to him.  
"So, Zim...What did you do to her? Hypnotize her? Replace her brain with worms?" Dib mumbled from where he was sitting behind Zim.  
Zim chuckled. "I can assure you, Dib-human... This inferior human has every bit of her free will. All I had to do was ask her to help me."  
"You're lying..." Dib whispered. "I can tell."  
Zim laughed. "Heh heh heh... Such a clueless earth-monkey... Say, where's your role model?"  
Dib scowled. "Well, if you MUST know... I was going to bring my dad in, but he was too busy."  
"Hey, Dib has no role model," Ms. Bitters pointed out. "Everyone, pound him like the freakish outcast he is."  
The other students and their role models all grinned and dogpiled onto Dib. He screamed and was trampled by all of them. Zim held up a hand over his mouth to hide a snicker. Maz couldn't help but giggle.  
When the class had stopped stomping on Dib's head, they returned to their seats and Dib lay on the ground, moaning in pain.  
"I...hate you...Zim...owwww..." He groaned. He crawled back into his seat and Ms. Bitters began to lecture the class about doom and torture and other horrible things.  
Both Maz and Zim were getting rather bored, and both had zoned out. Dib saw the opportunity, their guards were dropped, and he could expose Zim and free the girl from the control he had her under...  
Fast as lightning, Dib jumped up in his seat and lunged at Zim, tackling him to the ground. Shocked, Zim let out an indignant squeal as Dib slammed him to the ground. Dib attempted to punch Zim in the face, but Zim was flailing around and screaming, trying to somehow throw Dib off of him, so he only ended up hitting the floor. The other students were staring at them, not quite sure what to do. Ms. Bitters had still not stopped lecturing, and didn't even seem to notice the fight ensuing between the two.  
Finally, both of them were torn apart and Dib felt a heel dig into his stomach with bone-crushing force. He realized it was Maz, and as he was doubled over with pain, he saw her grab Zim by the arm and rush out of the room. Ms. Bitters still continued her lecture.

~+~+***+~+~

"So...uhhhhh... This is what you do all day?" Ispen asked, not taking his eyes off the Scary Monkey show. He was mesmerized by it, but wondered why Gir wasn't driven insane already. It was interesting, but watching it for months on end seemed like it would get annoying.  
"YUP! My master's REAL nice to me!" Gir answered, jumping up happily. But the smile faded from his face and he looked down. "But master's been so sad lately... And even pudding don't cheer him up! It just makes him run around real fast and make those screamy noises!"  
"Huh." Ispen returned his attention to the monkey.  
"But now the master's so happy! Ever since his big sister camed back, he been a lotta more happier than ever!!" Gir smiled again, then sat down next to Ispen and watched the Scary Monkey show some more, humming random notes.

~+~+***+~+~

Maz and Zim finally stopped in an alley. Both were panting hard from running so fast, and Zim was whimpering.  
"What the hell was up with him?!" Maz exclaimed angrily. "Why would he attack you like that?! Oh, sorry... I'm letting my anger get ahead of me. Are you okay?"  
Zim nodded. "That foolish human... He will pay..."  
Maz looked back towards the Skool, looking determined. "Yes, he will. But we've got to get home first."  
Zim hesitated. "But... What if he follows us?"  
"Don't worry. Next time I see him, I'll go psycho on his ass before he can get near you."  
Zim looked up at her. "Really?"  
"Of course. I'm your sister, it's my job."  
"Good. Oh, and..." Zim grabbed Maz's arm and yanked her down to eye level with him. "You better not tell anyone about this. Invaders who are weak enough to get beat up like this are laughed at and written off as wimps."  
Maz rolled her eyes. "I won't tell anyone. Now, let's go home."

~+~+***+~+~

"Um, Maz?" Zim asked as he looked out the window at the Earth, which was slowly growing farther away. "I thought you said we were going home."  
"I did," Maz replied from the cockpit. "We're going HOME home. I already packed up your stuff, and I've got your Voot cruiser in tow behind the ship. Also, your supplies from the Tallest came, so I redirected them and sent them back to the Massive. They'll be at my house by the time we get back.  
"WHAT?!" Zim exclaimed. "No! What about my mission?! They'll notice me missing and suspect something!!!"  
"Already taken care of," Maz interrupted. "I locked the planet in a time warp, so 20 years can pass on Irk and it'll only be one year there. Plus, that race is so...STUPID. They'll never notice you're gone."  
"Dang, you're good!" Zim said, impressed. "You really did think of everything, didn't you?"  
"Yup. Now just sit back and enjoy the ride."

~+~+***+~+~

"Guh... Zim will never expect me to show up at his house at a time like this..." Dib moaned, clutching his stomach. It was still throbbing with pain. He stumbled over the sidewalk and marched up to Zim's house.

Or rather, what USED to be Zim's house.

"HUH?! Where is it?!" Dib yelled, panicked. "What evil scheme is he conducting now!?"  
Dib looked at the ground. the grass was all grown in, the gnomes were gone, the cracks in the walls of the neighboring houses were fixed, and it was as though Zim's house was never there.  
"He's probably scared senseless becase of what I did yesterday!" Dib said, beaming. "He's probably just HIDING! The coward!"  
And at that, Dib walked down the street back to his house, laughing the whole way.


	3. Chapter 3

"AHHHHHHHHH!!!" The guards screamed as Zim and Maz entered the main hall of the Massive. Maz had to supress a snicker as they dropped their weapons and ran.

"What did you do to make them so scared of you?" Zim said, antennae cocked to the side in amusment.  
Maz sighed. "I don't think it's _me_," She said quietly, "I think it's _you_."  
Zim laughed a little too loudly, not realizing she was serious.  
"Um, well... Let's go. I still need to introduce you to the rest of the family, and let the Tallest know the entire main hall is completely unguarded at the moment."

~+~+***+~+~

"DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN!!!" Purple yelled, pointing accusingly at Zim. Red promptly smacked him upside the head.  
Then, more calmly, Red explained, "Look, Maz, I don't think Zim living here on the Massive is a very good idea."  
"Yeah, I'm having second thoughts too," Maz said jokingly. Red frowned, frustrated that she didn't get that he was serious.  
"No, really. I mean, every time Zim takes five steps within a 1,000,000,000 mile radius of us, something horrible happens."  
Maz looked confused. "But he just walked all over the Massive and nothing horrible's happened."  
Just then, the screen at the front of the bridge came on, and a panicked engineer appeared.  
"PART OF THE ENGINE JUST EXPLODED!!!" He yelled, partially because he was in a panicked frenzy, and partially because it was the only way he could be heard over the din of the machinery. The screen went black.  
"See?" Red said, waving a hand towards the screen, completely unconcerned about the huge technical difficulty they were expeiriencing.  
"It was probably just a coincidence!" Zim suggested, waving his arms frantically. "PLEASE, My Tallest?! I'll never learn to be a better Invader unless Maz helps me!"  
Maz nodded.  
"Oh, FINE," Red growled. "But ONE slip up... and I mean ONE... And Zim gets re-banished."  
Zim saluted and marched out into the hall.  
"What about the engine?" Maz asked, a little worried.  
"Eh, they'll fix it," Red said in a bored tone. "We've managed to solve most of the problems Zim's caused so far, and they were a lot bigger than this. Besides, it's only a small part of the engine."  
"Oh, uh... Okay." Maz left, following Zim out into the hall.  
Purple looked over at his brother, worried. "We're all gonna die."  
"Yeah. That may just be the understatement of the year."

~+~+***+~+~

Ispen wasted no time in heading back to Maz's room and turning the TV on. Gir showed him what channel the Scary Monkey Show was on, and then Sez and Mak came to join them. The four of them watched, completely mesmerized, while Maz introduced Zim to Vivi.  
"Zim, this is Vivi. He's from the planet I conquered."  
Zim looked at him curiously. "You keep him as a slave?"  
Maz looked up. "Uh, well, no. He's more of a member of the family than anything."  
"Um, hi," Vivi said shyly, holding out his hand. Zim stared at him for a minute, confused. Embarrassed, Vivi let his hand fall at his side.  
"Alright, Zim," Maz said finally, "If you're ever going to be a better Invader, we'd better start training now."

~+~+***+~+~

It was the day before Dib's first day of High Skool. Gaz was in his class, too-- the Middle Skool teachers had been terrified of her and moved her up two grades.

It had been three years since Zim had pretty much disappeared entirely. Dib had to admit, he loved not having to defend the earth or try to reveal Zim every second of the day, but he sometimes wondered where Zim was, why he had left, and if he would ever come back. (He sincerely hoped that the answer to that last one was NO.)

MEANWHILE, SAME LOCATION OF ZIM'S OLD BASE

"Oh no..." Maz said to herself, looking at the computer.  
"What?" Zim asked.  
"It's been three years."  
"Um..." Zim was confused. "Yeah. What's so bad about that?"  
"No, it's been three years here on earth, too."  
"WHAT?! But I thought you had the planet in a time warp!"  
"I did," Maz growled. "But it obviously didn't work."  
Zim scowled murderously.  
"Look, it's not that big a deal. Kids leave and come back all the time."  
Zim sighed, frustrated, and put on his wig and contacts. They felt weird after not wearing them for so long, but Zim was beginning to feel the old routine kick back in. He felt a little more confident that he would be able to blend in since he had grown nearly a foot, and humans seemed to grow as they aged.  
Maz drilled the small, computerized, compacted version of Zim's base into the ground and waited anxiously. She had made modifications to it, but she was afraid the entire design would be warped, because technically, modifications were only supossed to be done while the base was expanded.  
However, when it was done assembling, nothing appeared to be wrong with the exterior, so any mistakes could be fixed from within without arousing suspicion.  
"YAY!!!" Gir screamed, practically launching himself from the ship and running into the house. The first thing he did was climb onto the couch and turn on the TV. Ispen followed, more slowly, and sat next to him. Zim ran past both of them and back into his lab, excited to see what Maz had added in and changed.  
Maz walked in, satisfied. Ispen looked at her.  
"So, what does coming here have to do with your...plan?"  
Maz grinned. "You'll see."

~+~+***+~+~

"What were you working on last night?" Zim asked as they walked towards their new Skool. "You were up practically the whole night."  
"I was hacking the Skool database and putting you in the directory. Unfortunately, the only class that wasn't full and allowed me to put you in was the one with Dib." Zim growled upon hearing his mortal enemy's name. Maz noticed this, and added, "Don't worry, though. I put myself in as the assisstant teacher for your class, so if he tries anything, he's dead in two seconds." Zim relaxed after hearing this.  
At the door, skool workers were handing out schedules and locker combonations to everyone. Zim got his and just shoved it in his pocket. He didn't have anything to put in his locker, because anything he needed, he would have in his PAK. He could find a use for the locker later.  
"Let's spilt up for now," Maz whispered out of the corner of her mouth. "We don't want to make it look like we're together right away."  
Zim nodded sutbtly, then started off down the crowded hall, following the map to his classroom. As soon as he was far enough away, Maz followed, keeping a good distance between them.

When Zim entered the classroom, he only recognized two people-- Dib and Gaz. Luckily, Dib didn't seem to notice him--YET--and the other few students in the room looked bored out of their minds.  
"Hello," The teacher said in a friendly voice. "You must be Zim. I think there may be something wrong with our directory, because you didn't appear in it until this morning. Go ahead and sit where ever you want."  
Dib's eyes widened, and he instantly turned to the doorway. "ZIM!!!" He yelled.  
Zim's eyes narrowed. "We meet again, Dib-human."  
The teacher looked confused. "You two know eachother?"  
"Yes, I used to go to skool here, but I left to go to skool in...Europe...for a few years. And now I'm back," Zim explained.  
"Ah, I see."  
"He's an alien!" Dib shouted, pointing at him.  
"Dib, I don't know what went on between you two, but it's not nice to judge people. Please don't cause trouble," The teacher said calmly.  
Zim sat at the opposite end of the room and Dib resorted to glaring at him for a while.  
Maz entered the room a few minutes later, making a good show of looking shy.  
"Oh, hello!" The teacher said, standing up. "You're Maz, right?"  
"Yep," Maz replied cheerfully.  
"Like I was telling Zim here, I think our directory may be broken," the teacher explained. "You didn't appear in it until early this morning, but I managed to find you a desk."  
"Oh! Thanks!" Maz exclaimed. She was surprised at the caring and generosity of some humans.  
"By the way, my name's Caty," She said, holding out her hand.  
"Nice to meet you," Maz said, shaking her hand. She went to sit down at her desk.  
"By the way..." Caty added. "Have we met before?"  
Maz looked over her carefully. Something about her tigerish yellow eyes was familiar, but she couldn't place it...  
"I'm sorry...I don't think so," Maz said slowly.  
"Oh, alright. Just wondering."

~+~+***+~+~

About 20 minutes into class, the door opened and a new student entered the room. Zim saw who it was, and, in total shock, sunk in his seat and tried to appear as invisible as possible.  
"Hello, Tak," Caty said, smiling.  
"Sorry I'm late, Ms. Caty," Tak said, taking her seat.  
Zim looked at her from across the room, wondering if she remembered everything that had happened, and if she still hated him for it. Her eyes met his, and he knew the answer was yes. Yes, she still hated him.

~+~+***+~+~

During lunch, Zim casually walked over to Tak's locker.  
"Um... Hi, Tak. How's it going?"  
Tak slammed her locker door and turned to him with a look so full of rage it made him flinch.  
"You've ruined my life TWICE now," she said furiously.  
"Um...yeah...but... You WERE trying to take my mission."  
"WHAT mission?!" Tak yelled at him, causing him to step back in alarm. "You're NOT an Invader!"  
"Yes I am," Zim squeaked.  
Tak turned away from him, frustrated. "Fine. Believe what ever stupid, impossible fantasies you want to, but stay away from me."  
She stomped off down the hall, leaving Zim totally dumbfounded.

Meanwhile, Dib was blabbing his thoughts away to Gaz. Having matured slightly, Gaz was able to tolerate his rants for short amounts of time, but eventually she would snap.  
"...And now Zim AND Tak are here! AGAIN! How am I supposed to defend the planet from TWO aliens!? I mean, Zim's a total moron... But Tak might actually be able to pull this whole destroying-the-world thing off!"  
"Maybe they'll just kill eachother?" Gaz wondered aloud. Dib sighed.  
"I sure hope so..."

~+~+***+~+~

"I _know_ I've met you before," Caty insisted. "You're Maz."  
"Yeah, I am..." Maz said uncomfortably. _What's wrong with her?_ she wondered.  
"No, I mean, you're former Invader Maz, currently Irken Elite General. Your height is 5'6", your eye color is red, and you conquered the planet Gaia."  
Maz was unable to keep her jaw from dropping.  
"How...?"  
Caty grinned devillishly. "I know almost everything about you. We've been best friends since birth, don't you remember?"  
Maz's eye's widened in shock. "Chev...?!"  
Chev lowered her voice to a whisper. "Yeah. But save the touching reunion for later, 'kay? I'll come with you to your base after skool."  
"Okay," Maz said, a huge grin spreading across her face.

~+~+***+~+~

Maz was about to explode as she, Zim, and Chev walked back to the house. Zim kept giving Maz looks that said _What the heck is wrong with you?!_ but she ignored them, she was too happy to care.

Finally, they got to the house, and Zim's confusion reached a whole new level when Maz allowed Chev into the house. Once they were inside, both Maz and Chev's holographic disguises flickered off. Zim's confusion had now reached a _record_ level.  
"What the...?!"  
"You've grown a ton, Maz."  
Maz grinned. "I MISSED YOU!!!" She screamed, tackling Chev so hard she squeaked in alarm. Gir saw the hugging moment and decided to join in, latching himself to Maz's leg.  
"Well, I see you've grown too, Zim. Guess you got that from your sister," Chev said, looking over at Zim.  
"How'd you know Zim was my brother?" Maz asked, confused.  
"I've been keeping up with your record," Chev said mischeviously. "And I found out that Tak was headed here, so I decided to come, thinking we could conquer the planet together. Finding you was an added bonus."  
"So, this Tak is the Tak I thought she might be. Does she know...?"  
"Yeah, she knows it's me. I'll tell her about you tomorrow."  
Zim raised an eyebrow. "You guys know Tak?"  
Maz unintentionally mimicked his expression. "You know her?"  
Zim nodded. "Yeah, she tried to steal the planet from me a while back. Anyway, I'm going back into the lab." Zim left to go downstairs, Gir trailing behind.  
After he had left, Maz turned to Chev. "If you don't mind, I need to ask you not to destroy the earth."  
Chev looked at her, amused. "May I ask why?"  
"I have a plan. It's long and complicated, but I need you to trust me."  
Chev smiled sightly. "You may not be very good at hiding your identity from me, but your plans have almost never failed. Of course I'll trust you."  
Maz nodded. "Good."

~+~+***+~+~

"My base is nothing compared to this," Chev said, impressed. "I may have to move in with you."  
"Well, the more the merrier," Maz said. Ispen walked up next to her.  
"It doesn't matter anyway," he pointed out. "We're leaving soon, aren't we?"  
Zim's head shot up. "WHAT?!"  
"Thanks, Ispen," Maz said through clenched teeth.  
"But we just got here!" Zim yelled, sounding more whiny than he meant to be.  
"I know that, Zim," Maz said, narrowing her eyes. "And I told you we weren't staying long."  
"You didn't tell me WHY," Zim grumbled. "And you didn't tell me we were only staying a few days."  
Maz sighed. "Look, Zim... I told you about my plan, right?"  
"Well, you told me you had a plan, and that's about it. Why? Is this part of it?"  
"Yes," Maz answered. "And I'll tell you what it is right now."

(_Author: Oh...? IT'S FLASHBACK TIME?! HOORAY!!!_)

"I know it's a bit ridiculous that I'm asking this," Maz mumbled for probably the fourth time. "But I promised my friends I wouldn't let their planet be taken over. At least not forever."  
Red frowned. "Well... We _could_ form an alliance instead of taking over Gaia." Maz grinned and nodded. "But..."  
"It's kind of not really under OUR control anymore," Purple finished.  
"PURPLE!" Red yelled.  
"Well, it's true," Purple grumbled.  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Maz asked, confused.  
"Well..." Red hesitated, as though he was trying to decide between telling the truth or making something up. "See, we lost control over the planet about a year ago."  
"WHAT?!" Maz exploded.  
"Well, we got this signal from one of the soldiers. He kept saying that someone had taken over the planet, and then the signal got cut."  
Maz didn't say anything.  
"And then we got another signal, but it was just a voice..." Red continued. "Well, you'll need to hear it for it to make sense." Red hovered over to the nearest computer and pulled up a file.

"Alright, see that? I just killed off half the soldiers working on this planet. The other half have all surrendered to me," The voice said. Maz gasped slightly. She knew that voice well. It was deeper now, though, and had a sneering tone that she had never heard before.  
"So, if you're observant enough, you may have noticed that this planet, Gaia, is no longer on the map. If you somehow manage to find it again, don't even bother sending forces here. I will _kill_ them _all_. I'm not stopping here, either. I'll keep going until I eventually reach Irk and take it over too. You'll all regret ever having ridiculed me."  
The recording ended with derranged laughter.  
"We think it might be--" Red began, but Maz cut him off.  
"Xith," She said simply. Red and Purple looked at eachother, stunned.  
"I knew him... I was his friend once," Maz explained. "I knew he didn't really have his head on straight, but... I never, not in a million years, thought he would go this far."  
Maz remembered Xith from years and years ago, back when she and Chev were training to become Elite Soldiers. He was quiet, depressed, and usually sat by himself. He had given up on trying to be friends with anyone, because they all teased him too much. He was an outcast.  
He was an outcast because he was a mutant. A glitch in his DNA had caused his body to be slightly warped, and his eyes to be a pitch black color. His antennae were jagged and bent, and his claws too long on one hand. He was the very definition of "mutant freak".  
He was also able to live without a PAK, however, he had to eat regularly to keep himself nourished, unlike normal Irkens, who _could_ live without eating. Most, however, chose to eat anyway. Something in the glitch also had to do with an electric problem, so Xith could control elecrtical devices. That was possibly the only advantage.  
Maz and Chev had befriended him, and were his only friends for a long time, up until they had both become Invaders. Maz figured their leaving had caused him to snap.  
"Why didn't you tell me?!" Maz demanded.  
"I thought you wouldn't care." Red looked down. "But I guess you do. Sorry. I guess I should have told you."  
"Well, this changes everything," Maz mumbled. "Now I need to go back to Earth..."

(_Author: Aww. Flashback over._)

"Oh," Zim said. "But I still don't see what coming back to earth has to do with all this..."  
"Yeah, that explanation didn't explain why you're here," Chev said.  
Maz sighed, exasperated. "I know. Just bear with me, okay? You'll find out everything tomorrow. And Zim, you may want to pack up. Whether or not my plan works, we're leaving tomorrow night."  
Zim knew what would happen if he resisted Maz and pissed her off, so he resorted to making faces at her for the remainder of the evening.

~+~+***+~+~

"I don't know what to do, Gaz!" Dib yelled hysterically. "What if they're working together, or what if--"  
Gaz had reached her breaking point. "Will you SHUT UP about this already?! You've been blabbing about it since THREE IN THE FREAKING MORNING!!!"  
Dib paused. "I...have?"  
"Yes, you came into my room at three in the morning and started freaking out and practically having a SEIZURE."  
"Oh. Well, anyway--"  
"Save it for someone who cares, Dib." At that, Gaz got up and walked off.  
Dib slouched a little, frustrated.  
"Hey, Dib." He looked up to see that Maz had taken Gaz's place at the table.  
"Look, whatever you have to say, can you make it quick? I kind of have to figure out how to save to world."  
"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about." Dib shot Maz a skeptical glance.  
"What do you mean by that?"  
"Well, I know Zim's an alien," Maz said in a low voice. Dib's eyes went wide.  
"Wait, wait," he said, shaking his head. "You're just doing the same thing Mr. Dwicky was doing. You're just gonna pretend to believe me, and then RIGHT as we're about to expose Zim, you'll tell me you were faking."  
Maz laughed slightly. "No. Really. That's why I've been hanging out with him, I was trying to get him to trust me enough to expose himself to me."  
"...Really?"  
"Yep. So, come with me to his base after Skool, and we'll expose him together."  
Dib still looked skeptical, but he figured there was no harm in going with her, even if she was doing the same thing Mr. Dwicky was doing.  
He just wouldn't let her hold the camera.

~+~+***+~+~

Tak walked up to Maz, looking like she was about to explode.  
"Hi," she managed to blurt through the huge grin on her face.  
Maz snickered. "So, Chev told you?"  
"Uh-huh," Tak replied, calming down a little. "She also told me Zim was your brother." She looked a bit disgusted.  
"Yeah, I hear you two don't exactly have a great history."  
"He's ruined my life TWICE now," Tak grumbled.  
"So I hear. I'm sorry, but for my plan, you'll have to put up with him for a few days."  
"Yeah, Chev told me your plan."  
"So, I need you, Chev, and Zim to make it out of Skool before me. Think you can handle it?"  
Tak grinned. "Oh yeah."

~+~+***+~+~

"Okay, class," Chev said, doing a really good job of sounding miffed, "Tak just broke every rule ever established in this skool, so I"m escorting her to the principal's office. Maz will watch you for the last 15 minutes."  
Tak gave Maz a thumbs up as they exited the room.  
A few minutes later, Zim raised his hand.  
"What?" Maz asked, glaring at him.  
"I need to use the bathroom," he said.  
"Fine. But make it fast."  
Zim got up and practically ran out of the room, trying to catch up with Tak and Chev. Of course, not even Dib would guess what was really going on, not in a million years.  
The bell rang and the usual post-skool chaos ensued. Kids jumped out of windows and ran screaming from the classroom. Maz supressed a giggle as one kid collided with the door just as it closed.  
As soon as the classroom was reasonably empty, Dib walked up to Maz's desk.  
"Ready?" He asked.  
"Yup," Maz answered. "Let's go."

~+~+***+~+~

"Alright," Maz said as they both walked onto Zim's front yard. "Wait here. I'll be right back."  
Dib waited, giddy with anticipation. Maybe today would be the day he would finally expose Zim...  
His thought interrupted by a hole suddenly opening in the ground right beneath his feet. All he could manage to think before he fell was _Aw, crap._  
He fell down into a room that looked oddly like the cells in an insane asylum. Only the walls and floors weren't padded.  
Not much to his surprise, Zim appeared on a screen jutting out of the wall. And of course, he was laughing so hard he couldn't say anything. Dib scowled.  
And then, (and this was a little more surprising) Maz walked up next to Zim.  
"Maz! Oh, I should have known... You're working for Zim as a slave, aren't you?!"  
Maz looked exasperated. "No, Dib. We're partners. And, in a way, he kind of has to take orders from me."  
Zim made a face at this.  
"Huh?" Dib said, confused. "Why would Zim take orders from you? You're just a human."  
"Another thing you're wrong about." Maz transformed back into an Irken and now Dib was panicked.  
"THERE'S THREE OF YOU NOW?!"  
Chev sighed and stepped into veiw of the screen. "Four."  
"OH, CRAP! And knowing my luck, I bet Tak's working with you..."  
"Yup!" Tak called from somewhere off-screen.  
"And... let me guess... you brought me here to destroy me, didn't you?"  
"Uh, no. Actually, we need your help."  
Now there was something he wouldn't have expected in a million years.


	4. Chapter 4

"Uhhhh... What?" Dib said, confused.  
"EXCUSE ME, WHAT?!" Zim said simultaneously.  
Maz sighed. "Look, Zim--"  
"WHY ARE YOU ASKING FOR HIS _HELP_?!"  
"Wait, no. This is another trick, isn't it?" Dib realized.  
Zim stopped yelling and his antennae shot up. "Yeah, it's a trick, right?" He asked, turning to Maz.  
Dib nodded. "I mean...Why else would you throw me down here? If you REALLY wanted my help, you'd just walk up and ask me."  
"No, it's not a trick. Sorry, but I really do need your help," Maz said calmly.  
Dib raised an eyebrow. "Then why'd you throw me down here?"  
"Well, Dib, I really couldn't take any chances, seeing how you'll beat the crap out of Zim whenever you get the chance." Maz glared.  
"Oh, yeah."  
"So are you gonna help us or not?" Chev asked.  
"I don't know..." Dib said slowly. "It still could be a trap."  
"HEY MASTER!" Gir's voice called from off screen. "LOOK WHO'S HERE!"  
"GIR!!!" Zim yelled back, glaring at him. "It's bad enough that my sister lets inferior humans into the base, I don't need my slave doing it too!!!"  
"Gaz?!"  
Gaz looked up and a sadistic grin spread across her face. "Haha. You just got OWNED."  
"Gaz, what are you-- ARE YOU HELPING THEM?!" Dib exploded.  
"Yup," Gaz answered simply.  
"WHY?!"  
"The robot gave me a GS3," She said, shrugging. "Besides, I was bored."  
Dib sighed. Strangely, the idea of being with his psycho sister made him feel safer.

"Okay..." He agreed slowly. "I'll help you. But if it's a trap, I get to send Gaz after all of you."

~+~+***+~+~

"Wow, Zim. Your lousy little rocket is nothing compared to this," Dib said, looking around the inside of Maz's ship.  
Zim glared knives at him. "Shut your noise tube, human. I still get to rip out your organs and feed them to Gir when this is all over."  
"YAY!!!" Gir yelled, dancing.  
"Ewww," Ispen mumbled, making a face.  
"Oh yeah, and Dib," Maz called from the cockpit. "You try anything funny, and we shoot you out the airlock."  
Gaz's eyes widened. "Can I do it?"  
Maz set the ship to autopilot. "Alrighty then... Chev, Tak, we need to catch up."  
"Yeah, we do," Chev replied. "So... You're an Irken General now... That's really something."  
"Yeah, it is," Tak agreed. She frowned and cast a death-glance at Zim. "Thanks to SOMEONE... I haven't even gotten to be an Invader yet." Zim looked apologetically back at her.  
"You kept your S.I.R., too," Chev said with a slight smile. "Not many Invaders do that, they think S.I.R.s are disposable and all... I'm surprised he still works, too. They usually quit working after about two years."  
Zim heard this and looked over at Gir, worried. It had already been more than three years, and as much as the stupid little robot annoyed him at times, he still didn't want him to die.  
Maz grinned, smug. "I fixed Ispen up with a recargable battery, he'll keep working for another 10 years, probably. And when THAT quits working, all I have to do is put in another one."  
Chev grinned. "You always were the techy one... Remember when you tried to modify your own PAK?"  
Maz frowned at the memory. "Yeah, THAT went real well... I couldn't walk for a week."  
Chev and Tak laughed. Maz did too, but stopped when she saw the look on Zim's face.  
"What's wrong?"  
"Chev said S.I.R.s only live for two years. And it's already been--"  
Maz glared at him. "Oh HONESTLY, Zim... Did you really think I'd be that selfish? I gave Gir a rechargable battery, too."  
"Oh," Zim said, relieved.  
"Okay, enough about batteries, now..." Tak said impatiently. "This is turning out to be a really boring conversation. And you still have to tell me how you plan to carry out this brilliant plan of yours, Maz."  
"Oh, right. Well, see..."

Dib was surprised at how easily they conversed with eachother. They weren't anything like Zim. In fact, the conversation made them seem almost... human.

Zim lost track of the hours, and he was bored out of his mind. He didn't want to engage in the conversation that Maz, Chev, Tak, and now Gaz were deep in, and he _certainly_ didn't want to try and talk to Dib. So, his options made the boredom almost bearable.

Dib was getting tired of the hysterical fits of laughter the girls kept having. Even Gaz, who hardly ever even smiled, was screaming with laughter.

They all stopped laughing and screamed simultaneously as the ship screeched to a hault, but the giggles didn't stop for another few minutes.  
"We're here!" Maz said happily, pointing out the window at the Massive.

~+~+***+~+~

"It's kind of hard not to want to blow everything up," Dib said to himself.  
"Okay, be quiet," Maz hissed, rapping loudly on the door to the bridge.  
It opened. Red and Purple were watching the group file in, surprised by the size.  
"Hey, that's that one kid who was in Zim's base that one time," Purple said, pointing at Dib. "His head is a lot bigger in person."  
"MY HEAD IS NOT BIG!" Dib retorted.  
"So, uhhh..." Maz looked off to the side. "I kinda need weapons..."  
Red tossed her the key to the weapon stock. "Go crazy."

Maz ran to the weapon room, her grin too big for her face. She all but rammed the door down, bursting in and running to the very back of the room. She grinned wider.  
"Maz, where are you?" Chev called. She walked up behing her and followed her gaze to a weapon hung on the wall.  
"Maz... I told the MechaCannon is too much for you to handle..."  
Maz looked back at her, a pitiful expression on her face. "But but... It's so... Shiny..."  
Chev glared. "Oh FINE..."  
"YAAAAAAAY!!!" Maz ripped the huge gun off the wall and ran in circles, underestimating its weight so she stumbled a bit.  
When they had all found their weapons, Maz led the group back to her living area.  
"Oh, Maz, you're back!" Vivi exclamed, running to greet her. "Are we...?"  
Maz nodded. "Yep. Where are Sez and Mak?"  
"Right here," Mak replied enthusiastically, popping up from behind Vivi along with Sez.  
"I'm sorry it took me so long, Vivi," Maz apologized. "But we're going now."

~+~+***+~+~

"Okay, we're ready," Maz announced. "We're taking several ships so they can't track us as easily. Chev, you come with me, Vivi, Ispen, Gir, Mak, and Sez."  
"I'm going with Gaz," Dib said. "I still don't trust any of you."  
"But that means I have to go with Zim..." Tak complained. She (you guessed it) glared at him again.  
"Sorry, Tak... You can beat him up when this is over," Maz promised.  
"You sure you'll be okay?" Red asked. "I mean, this is just a tad dangerous, you know?"  
"Oh, I'll be fine," Maz said dissmissively. "It's cute that you care, though," She added with a giggle. Red cast her a weirded-out look.  
"Okay, let's stop talking and GO already," Gaz said, stomping impatiently. "I wanna use this gun I found."  
"Alright alright," Maz said, hopping into the ship. "Remember, land as far away from the other ships as possible, and be careful. See you all there!"

~+~+***+~+~

Tak sat at the controls, staring ahead.  
"I can't BELIEVE I got stuck with you," She said to Zim, her voice strained with rage.  
"Yeah. I mean, uh... I'm sorry for, uh, ruining your life and all."  
Tak stopped and looked back at him, stunned.  
"You're WHAT?"  
"I'm sorry for ruining your life," he repeated.  
"Twice," Tak corrected.  
"Twice," he agreed with a nod. "I mean, I'm really, really sorry."  
Tak looked at him skeptically. "Okay... You're getting there. It's gonna take more than that for me to forgive you all the way, though..."  
Zim grinned at her.  
"Don't push your luck..." She warned, her eyes narrowing. "Oh, and one more thing."  
"Uhhh, yeah?"  
"You're horrible at picking up chicks."  
"......Eh?"  
Tak sighed. "Remember when you were trying to get me to like you? Do you remember what you said?"  
"Ummmm.......No."  
"You called me a 'filthy beast of meat and hair'. That is NOT how you get girls to like you."  
"Well, maybe not. But I still thought you were a human."  
"Yeah, but even human guys don't say that sort of thing to girls they like."  
"But you were a pretty ugly human."  
"Well, so were you."  
"At least I didn't send a ham demon after you."  
"I didn't _send_ the ham demon after you. You ran after it down the street, screaming bloody murder. Besides, that was AFTER we started our all out war, you doofus."  
"...Well, I wouldn't have run after it if you didn't put it in the street in the first place."  
"What if you were hallucinating?"  
"Nope. Then I would be almost as crazy as Dib."  
"But Dib's not actually crazy. You really are an alien, remember?"  
"Oh yeah."  
Tak shook her head and went back to staring out the window. "Idiot."

~+~+***+~+~

"Nice landings, everyone," Maz's voice said on the radio. "Well, be careful, and we'll try to meet up eventually. Good luck!"  
"So this is Gaia.." Tak mused, climbing out of the ship. "It's really dark here. I thought it was morning."  
"It is," Maz replied from the radio. "You guys are probably near Treno. Like I said, we'll meet up with you eventually, so try not to rip eachother to peices before then!" Then radio went dead.  
"Alright, let's go. Hurry up, Zim."  
They began walking towards a small group of Xith's soldiers at the foot of the mountain, trying to keep quiet. After a few minutes, Tak noticed, annoyed, that Zim was walking considerably slower than she was.  
"Walk faster, slowpoke!" She hissed.  
"But it's dark," Zim squeaked in reply.  
"So?!"  
"I'm scared. I need you to hold my hand."  
Tak growled. "I am not going to hold your hand, Zim!"  
Zim looked back at her pathetically.  
"No!"  
"Please?"  
"Zim..." Tak huffed. "FINE! If it'll make you walk faster, I'll hold your hand..."  
Zim happily ran up next to her.  
"But after this is over, the hand comes off."

~+~+***+~+~

Dib looked around the vast plains where they had landed, awestruck.  
"Man, Gaz! This is amazing!"  
"It reminds me of a video game I played once," Gaz said in a bored tone.  
"Hmm. Weird," Dib replied.  
Something moved in the bushes, causing them both to spin around. A baby Mistodon crawled out from behind the bush.  
"LOOK GAZ IT'S AN ALIEN!!!" Dib screamed. "WATCH OUT OR IT MIGHT SUCK YOUR BRAIN OUT THROUGH YOUR NOSE!!!"  
"Awww, it's cute," Gaz said, holding her hand out towards it.  
"Cute?! Gaz, that thing is dangerous!"  
She picked it up and it nuzzled its spiky head against her shoulder. "Yeah, Dib. It's a murderous death machine. Just shut up and get your gun, we need to find that Xith guy."  
Dib sighed and trailed after her. This argument was useless.

~+~+***+~+~

Maz led Chev, Vivi, and the group of S.I.R.s through the deserted Alexandria castle. Gir was enjoying breaking what remained of the expensive decor.  
"I don't know if they'll WANT to come back when Gir's done with the place," Ispen joked.  
"HEY!!!" A loud voice called from down the hall. "NO ONE CAN ENTER THIS CASTLE WITHOUT LORD XITH'S PERMISSION!!!"  
"Hmm, he's got quite a following here," Chev said.  
Maz rolled her eyes in agreement.  
"Look, dude, we're just walking through," Mak said to the soldier in a reasonable tone.  
"UNACCEPTABLE!!!" He yelled in response. "ALL WHO OPPOSE LORD XITH WILL BE BRAINWASHED!"  
Before any of them could react, several droids jumped from the ceiling and shoved them in a cage.

~+~+***+~+~

"That sucked," Tak grumbled. "You're pathetic, Zim."  
Zim looked at her but didn't respond.  
"...You don't care, do you."  
He shook his head and shrugged. Tak sighed and looked around the cage for any bolt she could pry lose, dents she could rip holes through, anything. But the cage was in pristine condition, there wasn't any hope of breaking out.  
Zim and Tak jumped when two more cages were dropped down on either side of theirs. They looked through the bars on either side to see that the rest of the group had been captured too.  
"Hey guys," Maz said with a nervous smile. "Well, this sucks."  
"MAJOR understatment," Chev sighed.  
"Yeah, really," Ispen said, frowning. "I thought we'd last at least twice that long."  
"I thought you'd last twice that long, too," Dib chimed in. "I mean, seriously. What was up with THAT?"  
"Shut up, Dib," Tak replied with a glare. "You're in a cage too, remember?"  
"Yeah, Dib-human. You don't have much room to talk," Zim added.  
"HI MASTER!!!" Gir screamed happily, waving at Zim through the bars of the cage. "I'M IN A CAGE! WOO!"  
Zim nodded, not bothering to look at him.  
"My... thing... is going completely nuts over here," Gaz said, staring at her baby Mistodon, which was ramming its head against the side of the cage in a crazed frenzy.  
"That's a Mistodon," Vivi esplained. "They hate small spaces. If you let it keep doing that, maybe it can break you out."  
"No need," a calm voice came from the other side of the room.  
"Xith!" Maz exclaimed.  
"Hello, Maz." He smiled at her, and Maz had a hard time believing that this was the same Xith who had overthrown Gaia. "Sorry about my soldiers, they don't exactly know how to exercise self-control. The brainwashing does it."  
"I, um, noticed that."  
"Hmm, Chev is here too. Are these others with you?"  
"Yeah," Maz replied.  
"Go ahead and let them out," Xith told one of the soldiers standing at the door. He saluted and unlocked the cages.  
"So, uhhh... What's up, Xith?" Chev asked.  
"Nothing much. You?"  
"Same."  
"It's been a while, Xith," Maz said carefully, trying to stay on his good side as long as possible. "So, I heard what you're trying to do..."  
"Oh? Brilliant plan, isn't it?"  
"Yes. But I was just wondering... why _are_ you doing it, exactly?"  
Xith's dark eyes seemed to get darker. "Oh, just returning the favor the rest of the Irken race did me. So, did you come to help?"  
"Ummm... Well... This was my invasion planet, and I kind of promised the inhabitants I'd get it back for them." Maz glanced at Vivi. "So, actually, I came to stop you."  
Xith frowned. "I knew it. You're just the same as all the rest of them."  
"No I'm not," Maz said defensively. "You can quit being like this and give the planet back to who it belongs to, now, and then we can all go home and discuss this over a nice cup of coffee."  
Xith sneered. "I don't think so. Guards, execute the traitors."  
Maz instinctively ran past the guards, who didn't react quite fast enough, followed by Chev, who shot a couple unsuspecting soldiers on the way out. Xith turned to follow them, but rememered the others in the room, and stopped.  
"RUN!" Sez yelled.  
All of them instantly took off in different directions, except Gir, who jumped and crashed straight throught the ceiling.  
"This is just like a game," Xith hissed. "I'll hunt you down one at a time and kill you all."  
He yelled out in pain as a fireball from Vivi hit him in the back, then turned to glare at the little mage with a look that said _You better run like hell, or you're dead in five seconds._

~+~+***+~+~

"What is WRONG with this guy?!" Tak yelled to Zim as they ran down the hall.  
"Who cares? KEEP RUNNING!"  
"Good idea!"  
Tak kept running and realized a few minutes later that Zim was no longer behind her.  
"Zim, this isn't funny!" She yelled, slowing to a hault. "Zim?"  
She looked back down the hall. There was nowhere he could have gone. Well...  
Except for the smoldering hole in the floor.

~+~+***+~+~

"Wait a minute!" Chev stopped abruptly. "Why'd we take off running and leave everyone else back there?!"  
Maz stopped, too. "Uhh... That _was_ a bit stupid, wasn't it?"  
"Really stupid. Let's go back."  
As they turned to run back, Vivi came running straight into Maz, knocking her over.  
"That guy is crazy!" He yelled, getting up and dusting himself off.  
"Ya think?" Maz replied sarcastically. "We should get out of here. But let's get everyone else first."

~+~+***+~+~

Dib ran past a few soldiers, but one caught him and slammed him against the wall, twisting his arm behind his back. Gaz rolled her eyes and went back to get him, punching the soldier in the gut so hard he fell off the balcony.  
"Owww..." Dib whimpered. "My arm hurts."  
"Shut up," Gaz growled at him.  
Dib was about to respond, but the roof caved in and the landing collapsed-- It's pretty hard to respond to someone when peices of a building are falling on you.

~+~+***+~+~

Tak cautiously climbed down the hole in the floor, hooking her PAK legs over the edge in case she needed to jump back up. She saw Xith in the corner, holding Zim pinned against the wall.  
"HEY!" She yelled at him, jumping down. "I'm the only one that gets to beat him up!"  
"Tak! You came to rescue me!" Zim yelled, but Xith cut him off by digging his heel into his back.  
"I didn't come to RESCUE you, Zim. I came to get my punching bag back from this loser."  
Maz, Chev, and Vivi ran in at that moment.  
"Hey, Tak! Let's get--" Maz saw Xith and groaned. "Aww, crap..."  
Xith grinned evilly at them. "No escaping now," He said, motioning at the group of soldiers that had appeared behind them. "Your only exit is blocked. Any last words?"  
"This is all Maz's fault!" Chev wailed.  
"CHEV!"  
"Well it is!"  
"This sucks," Tak mumbled to herself.  
"You can say that again," Zim replied.  
Just then, Gir poked his head throught the hole in the ceiling.  
"There you are, master! I found you!" He exclaimed happily. "I found this splodey-thing!" He jumped down, accidentally dropping the mine he had found. It rolled over to Xith's feet.  
"What the...?"  
Zim grabbed Gir and ran for cover.  
The explosion was so huge, it blasted the entire room to peices, not to mention Xith and all the soldiers that had been standing near him.  
Zim, Gir, Maz, Tak, Chev, and Vivi managed to dig themselves out of the rubble, coughing. A dumbstruck Ispen stood in the doorway, gaping.  
"THAT WAS AWESOME!" He yelled. "But... was that seriously it? I thought it would be bloodier."  
Maz shook her head, smiling at Ispen's sadism.  
"We did it..." Vivi said, staring in disbelief at the pile of debris that was once Alexandria castle.  
"Yeah, we did, huh?" Maz said happily. "Well, now that it's over, let's go home..."

~+~+***+~+~

Dib woke up in the hospital, wondering whether everything that happened was a dream. But when he looked over and realized his arm was in a cast, he knew it had really happened.  
"Well, you're finally awake," Maz said impatiently. Gaz was sitting next to her, playing her Game Slave, not seeming to notice the bandages around her head.  
"What happened?" Dib asked.  
"Well, you broke your arm." Maz rolled her eyes. "Zim's in the waiting room hoping you're gonna die."  
"...From a broken arm?"  
"That's what I said."  
"Well... Thanks. You know, for bringing me back here."  
"No problem," Maz replied.  
Dib frowned. "Is Zim gonna keep trying to destroy the Earth?"  
"No. Since you helped us, we kind of have a peace treaty now."  
"...Really?"  
"Uh-huh."  
"That's great..." Dib said, mostly to himself.  
"Yep. Well, I need to get home. Hope your arm gets better soon," Maz called over her shoulder, shutting the door behind her.  
"No more Zim..." Dib said happily, ecstatic at the thought. "Now I can go back to hunting ghosts in the basement!"

~+~+***+~+~

Zim soun around when as entered the room, looking hopeful.  
"For crying out loud, Zim. He's gonna live. I told you, humans don't die from broken arms."  
Zim scowled and sat back down.  
"It doesn't matter, anyway. You know the rules. They help us, we're not allowed to destroy them. Until later, anyway, when we get bored or forget we had a trreaty in the first place."  
"But with you and your amazing memory, that's not going to happen," Zim grumbled.  
"Nope. Well, anyway, let's go home. Where's Tak?"  
"She went back to her base to pack up," Zim replied, sounding more dissappointed than he intended to.  
"Good, that means we won't have to wait for her later. Let's go."  
Zim got up and followed Maz out of the hospital in silence. He realized, looking around, that he really was going to miss the Earth, and the intense hatred he felt for it.  
"Uhh, Maz?"  
"What?"  
"Can I ask you something?"  
"You didn't give me much of a choice there. Shoot."  
"What are we gonna do after this?"  
Maz stopped. "Uhmmm... I don't know. To be honest, I never really thought we'd get this far. Actually, I'd better give the Gaians back their home planet... They're pissed enough as it is."  
"Hmm," Zim said thoughtfully. "If you don't mind, can I ask something else?"  
"You sure are talkative today, Zim."  
"What _exactly_ does this treaty say? Just so I know what I'm not allowed to do."  
Maz produced a peice of paper from her pocket. Zim looked at her funny, then grinned like he had an idea.  
"It's not just on paper, Zim. I uploaded it into the Massive's comupter."  
"Shoot. I thought I could just burn it."  
"You can't get off THAT easily."  
"Alright, I know. What does it _say_?"  
Maz cleared her throat and began reading. "Okay, it says: 'EARTH: PEACE TREATY. This treaty protects said planet from any form of acts of war or violence from the Irken Empire whatsoever, including, but not limited to: Harrassment of inhabitants, destruction of planet, enslaving of inhabitants, and unwanted trespassing by an Irken.' Huh. As long as they don't want us here, we can't come back. It also says 'Said planet is also bound by this treaty. If an act of war or violence is directed from said planet at the Irken Empire, the treaty is rendered null and void and war is declared.'"  
Zim crossed his fingers in hope that Dib would do something nasty to break the treaty.  
"Well, let's get going," Maz said, folding up the paper and sticking it back in her pocket. "I have stuff to do."  
"What do I do?" Zim asked. He was beggining to feel bored already.  
"Whatever you want, I guess. As long as it doesn't go against the treaty."  
Zim scowled.  
Maz sighed, rolling her eyes. "Well, let's go get Tak and Chev. We don't want to stay much longer."

~+~+***+~+~

"..And then the whole room was like, KA-BLAM! Man, Gir. You should tag along on destruction missions more often," Ispen said with a laugh.  
"Not on our planet," Vivi said warningly. "You've blown up enough as it is."  
"Yeah. Oh, man, are things gonna get boring. Unless I can become the first S.I.R. unit to ever be assigned to a planet alone."  
"Not on your life," Maz muttered just loud enough for Ispen to hear.  
"More like the S.I.R. unit with the worst attitude and lack of respect towards his master EVER," Chev said jokingly.  
Maz smiled agreeingly. "Exactly."  
"I'm not THAT bad..." Ispen defended, frowning.  
"Of course not. Whatever you say, O Disrespectful One," Maz snickered.  
Chev burst into laughter. Ispen glared at her.  
"You know, actually, not having to worry about blowing up a planet for a while sounds pretty good right now," Tak said, sitting down next to Zim.  
Everyone but Gir (who was singing random combinations of random songs at the top of his lungs) went silent and stared at her.  
"...What?" She asked. "...Why'd you all get quiet all of the sudden?"  
Maz supressed a giggle.  
"What?!" Tak demanded. She looked at Zim, who was also staring at her. "Why're you looking at me like that?"  
Zim glanced down. "Uhhh, well... It's just that you sat next to me without having to be forced to."  
"...What? What does that have to do with anything?"  
"Well, I thought you hated me."  
"I do!" Tak blurted without thinking. "I mean, I used to, but... Gah, I don't know!"  
Chev looked at her inquiringly. "So, what? Are you saying you don't hate Zim anymore?"  
"I...em...errr...I......guess not," Tak admitted slowly.  
"Oh, great!" Maz said in mock-horror. "Now I have to worry about my little brother and his girlfriend while I'm gone!"  
"HEY!" Zim and Tak yelled at her in unison, Zim slightly louder.  
"Awww. You guys are cute when you get mad together," Chev joked.  
Tak leaned back in the seat, scowling.  
"Fine, Zim," she relented. "I don't hate you anymore. But don't let this go to your head, or I'll break up with you."  
Zim grinned. It was hard not to let this go to his head, because everything did anyway.


	5. Epilogue

I'M BACK!!!" Maz announced into a megaphone as she flung open the door to the bridge. Red screamed and accidentally flung the soda he was drinking in Purple's face.  
"Uhhh, hi Maz," he said, trying to regain his composure. "Do you always have to be so flamboyant about your entrances?"  
"Pretty much," she replied.  
"Whenever you're around, more soda ends up in my face than in my mouth," Purple complained.  
"Get over it," Maz snapped at him jokingly. She was so used to making fun of Purple, and it was hard to get used to him being one of the Tallest now. Red, she could respect as a leader. Purple... not so much.  
"So, you're back. PLEASE tell me Zim's coming with you when you go back to Gaia," Red said hopefully.  
Maz shook her head. "Not this time. But don't worry, he'll probably be too busy hanging out with Tak to ruin anything. They just got over how much they hated eachother."  
"Ummm... Okay?" Red responded cluelessly.  
"Well, I have to leave again. You can expect a louder entrance when I get back, though." She waved over her shoulder as she left. "Bye again, Red. Go clean your face off, Purple."  
Red snickered when the door closed. Purple glared at him and went to get more donuts.

~+~+***+~+~

"I'm coming with you, in case Zidane tries to rip your face off again," Ispen said to Maz as they headed back into the prison hall.  
"I'm perfectly capable of defending myself, Ispen. I know you think I'm not." She stopped in front of Zidane's prison door. It had been reinforced with a three layer steel and titanium door over the bars.  
"Jeez," She muttered under her breath. "I wonder what he did to get this door here..."  
She opened the door. The cell had been expanded towards the back, with two guards standing in front of yet another steel-titanium door.  
"What did he do?" Maz asked one of the guards incredilously.  
"Broke out of the cell and ripped one of the guards' antenna off. He would've killed him, too, if we hadn't gotten him back under control," The guard explained.  
"Holy crap," Maz said, shaking her head. Ispen stiffened. "Well, I need to get in there."  
The guards looked at her like she was crazy, but cautiously opened the door just enough for Maz to walk in.  
"What do you want?" Zidane asked as she entered. "Haven't you degraded me enough for one life-- What are you doing?" He asked, total confusion on his face as Maz unlocked the restraints and let him go.  
"Letting you out and taking you home," Maz answered simply.  
Zidane flexed his hands as the heavy metal cuffs came off. Then an expression crossed his face as though he had just remembered something. "What did you do with Vivi?!"  
"Huh? I didn't do anyth--"  
"What. Did. You. Do."  
Maz sighed. There was no point in arguing with him when he was like this.  
"I'm fine, Zidane," Vivi's voice came from the doorway.  
Maz resisted the urge to ask why he was here and instead said, "See, he's fine."  
Zidane relaxed a little, his trust for Maz slowly returning.  
"I'm sorry I couldn't do this sooner," She said apologetically. "I didn't want you guys to have to be put through this, but you resisted. If you resist, you get killed or put in prison. Simple as that."  
Maz remembered when the planet had been marked for conquest, and how she had warned Zidane and the others not to resist. Vivi was the only one who listened, even after he had found out that Maz was one of _them_. It made no difference to him.  
"You kind of brought it upon yourself," Ispen pointed out. "But whatever. Let's go fix your planet."  
"Fix it? ...What did you break?"  
Maz shot a glare at Ispen. "We broke a few things taking back the planet," She explained. "Don't worry, I'll stay and help you fix it."  
"Alright. But not before you get the verbal berating of your life," Zidane said seriously.  
"Oh, no. Not a verbal berating!" Maz exclaimed in mock-horror. Zidane laughed.  
"Thanks, Maz," he said. "I thought you'd just leave me here..."  
"Excuse me? What kind of friend leaves their buddies in prison?! Even if it WAS my fault in the first place."  
"I know, I know." He grinned. "Well... Let's go home."

~+~+***+~+~

"No, no, you're thinking of--Zim? What's with the goofy look?"  
Zim shook his head. "Huh? I don't know..."  
Tak rolled her eyes at him. "Well, stop. It's really hard to have a conversation when all you do is stare at me."  
"Right, right, sorry. So, what were you saying?"  
"..I forget."  
"Oh, okay."  
"...Is it just me, or have things gotten really _boring_ around here?"  
"...No, it's boring," Zim said after a moment of thought.  
They sat in silence for a minute. Then Tak grinned.  
"Feel like breaking a treaty?"  
Zim grinned back.  
"Is that a yes?"  
"What do you think?"  
Tak jumped up. "Let's go, then. That treaty won't break itself."  
"Dib might."  
"You think Dib's really gonna go asking for us to come take over the planet?!"  
"Oh, yeah. I didn't think of that."  
Tak sighed. "Man, Zim, you are such and IDIOT sometimes..."  
Zim nodded. He had heard that before.  
"Oh well. You're my idiot. Now let's go before Maz catches us."


End file.
